Michigan voters legalize recreational marijuana use

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DETROIT — Michigan, which already had medical marijuana, became the first Midwestern state to fully legalize pot.

It joins nine other U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Canada and Uruguay in launching a regulated recreational marijuana market

In Utah and Missouri, voters on Tuesday decided that patients should have access to medical marijuana.

Before Tuesday’s vote, 22 American states had adopted comprehensive medical marijuana programs. California was the first, recognizing in 1996 the therapeutic uses of marijuana in easing the symptoms of serious illnesses like HIV, cancer, epilepsy, PTSD and glaucoma. Recently, marijuana’s potential value for treating chronic pain has garnered attention as an alternative to opioids.

North Dakotans decisively rejected a proposal to make marijuana legal for recreational purposes.